Milieudefensie v. Shell: A Tipping Point in Climate Change Litigation against Corporations?

Summary

In May 2021, a landmark court order from a district court in the Netherlands ruled that Royal Dutch Shell, one of the largest fossil fuel companies in the world, needs to reduce its CO2 emissions by 45% by 2030.

How did a court in the Netherlands pass a ruling on a global company? Does the Paris Agreement hold for transnational private entities like Shell? What does this mean for corporations going forward?

In this second episode of our new themed series Survival by Degrees, Andreas Hösli answers these and other questions in the context of his article “Milieudefensie v. Shell: A Tipping Point in Climate Change Litigation against Corporations?”, published by Brill.

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